Secret alter ego of well-known protein fights leaky blood vesselsScientists at the Wyss Institute set out to solve the mystery of how the force of blood flowing through arteries and veins helps keep the cells that line them healthy and, to their surprise, discovered a completely new cell signaling pathway involving the well-known transmembrane protein Notch1.

Another reason to exercise: Protecting your sightPeople who engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity may be able to significantly lower their risk of glaucoma, according to research presented today at AAO 2017, the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Researchers rethink how 'beige' fat cells burn caloriesIt has been known for decades that low temperatures can trigger specialized fat cells to burn energy to produce heat, but in a new study, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered a new heat-producing pathway in fat cells that works by burning excess blood glucose, suggesting a potential new approach to treating metabolic disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

What can Twitter reveal about people with ADHD?People with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder tend to tweet using words like 'hate' or 'disappointed,' messages related to lack of focus, self-regulation, intention and failure and expressions of mental, physical and emotional exhaustion, according to research from the University of Pennsylvania.

Scalable clusters make HPC R&D easy as Raspberry PiA quest to help the systems software community work on very large supercomputers without having to actually test on them has spawned an affordable, scalable system using thousands of inexpensive Raspberry Pi nodes.

At-home vision monitoring app may improve patient carePatients with age-related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy who used a mobile application to test their vision at home got comparable results to in-office vision testing, according to research presented today at AAO 2017, the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Annual influenza vaccination does not prevent natural immunityEarlier studies have suggested that having repeated annual influenza vaccination can prevent natural immunity to the virus, and potentially increase the susceptibility to influenza illness in the event of a pandemic, or when the vaccine does not 'match' the virus circulating in the community.

Your stress and mineA new Tel Aviv University study finds that people often project their own experiences with stress onto their colleagues and employees, causing miscommunication and, often, missed opportunities.

Poison-ivy an unlikely hero in warding off exotic invaders?The invasive Japanese knotweed causes much more severe damage to floodplain forests along the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, USA, than previously thought, report Bucknell University biology professor Chris Martine and his two student co-authors.

Researchers identify hormone for treating sepsisA research team led by a biomedical scientist at UC Riverside has discovered that the human protein resistin could be used to treat sepsis, the body's extreme and uncontrolled immune response to an infection.

Genetic engineering mechanism visualizedResearchers at Kanazawa University and the University of Tokyo report in Nature Communications the visualization of the dynamics of 'molecular scissors' -- the main mechanism of the CRISPR-Cas9 genetic-engineering technique.

When water met iron deep inside the Earth, did it create conditions for life?Reservoirs of oxygen-rich iron between the Earth's core and mantle could have played a major role in Earth's history, including the breakup of supercontinents, drastic changes in Earth's atmospheric makeup, and the creation of life, according to recent work from an international research team published in National Science Review.

Eating regular variety of nuts associated with lower risk of heart diseasePeople who regularly eat nuts, including peanuts, walnuts and tree nuts, have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease or coronary heart disease compared to people who never or almost never eat nuts, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

CMU software assembles RNA transcripts more accuratelyComputational biologists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a more accurate computational method for reconstructing the full-length nucleotide sequences of the RNA products in cells, called transcripts, that transform information from a gene into proteins or other gene products.

How #ScientistsWarningtoHumanity signed up 15,000 scientistsTwenty-five years ago, a majority of the world's Nobel Laureates united to sign a warning letter about the Earth; today, scientists have taken grassroots action, with a scorecard -- created in the United States and seeded in Australia going viral and continuing to gain signatures -- showing that of nine areas only one has improved.

Researchers fold a protein within a proteinA research team led by a clinician scientist at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, has demonstrated it is possible to fold a protein within an engineered protein shell.

Simple water test could prevent crippling bone diseaseA simple colour-changing test to detect fluoride in drinking water, devised by researchers at the University of Bath, could in the future prevent the crippling bone disease, skeletal fluorosis, in developing countries such as India and Tanzania.

Monopole current offers way to control magnetsUsing numerical simulations, the group showed how a magnetic field could be used to control the properties of north and south poles, which are fractionalized from magnetic moments of electrons, on a frustrated magnet called a quantum spin ice.

Doctors and patients make more decisions togetherIn a shift away from the more patriarchal/matriarchal relationship between doctor and patient, patients report an increased partnership with their physicians in making medical decisions, reports a new study.

UC-led study could bring about strategies to increase 'good' cholesterolAfter decades of individual attempts to identify the structure of the main building block of HDL (high-density lipoproteins), the so-called 'good' cholesterol that associates with protection from cardiovascular disease, a research team representing eight academic institutions across the US and Australia has come to agreement on a predictive model.

The hidden cost of crime: Tanzanians pay as much as 7 percent to protect money from theftWhile sending money to others is often seen as the primary value arising from mobile money, a forthcoming study in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, a leading scholarly marketing publication, shows that in developing countries, mobile money provides another important source of value -- a form of theft insurance by protecting cash from street robberies and stealing by relatives or burglars at home.

Dry eye sufferers will soon have a drug-free solutionA study of dry eye sufferers who inserted a handheld neurostimulator device in their nose to make their eyes produce more tears experienced significant relief from their disease, according to research presented today at AAO 2017, the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Research advances understanding of opioid addiction in face of public health crisisAs the United States grapples with the devastating effects of an opioid epidemic, researchers are making progress in advancing our understanding of opioid addiction-related health issues, according to studies presented today at Neuroscience 2017, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.

Brain structure, cognitive function in treated HIV-positive individualsAdults with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and good viral suppression on combination antiretroviral therapy had poorer cognition and reduced brain thickness and volume on magnetic resonance imaging than adults without HIV, but changes over time in cognitive performance and brain structure were similar between the two groups over two years.

Mirror image: Researchers create higher-quality pictures of biospecimensResearchers from the National Institutes of Health and the University of Chicago improved the speed, resolution, and light efficiency of an optical microscope by switching from a conventional glass coverslip to a reflective, mirrored coverslip and applying new computer algorithms to process the resulting data.

Best Science Podcasts 2018

The Right To SpeakShould all speech, even the most offensive, be allowed on college campuses? And is hearing from those we deeply disagree with ... worth it? This hour, TED speakers explore the debate over free speech. Guests include recent college graduate Zachary Wood, political scientist Jeffrey Howard, novelist Elif Shafak, and journalist and author James Kirchick.

#486 VolcanoesThis week we're talking volcanoes. Because there are few things that fascinate us more than the amazing, unstoppable power of an erupting volcano. First, Jessica Johnson takes us through the latest activity from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii to help us understand what's happening with this headline-grabbing volcano. And Janine Krippner joins us to highlight some of the lesser-known volcanoes that can be found in the USA, the different kinds of eruptions we might one day see at them, and how damaging they have the potential to be. Related links: Kilauea status report at USGS A beginner's guide to Hawaii's otherworldly...